Eidos Montreal cuts staff following Thief release

Eidos Montreal has made 27 of its employees redundant, one week after the release of Thief.

The Square Enix-owned developer, responsible for Deus Ex: Human Revolution and the recent Thief reboot was rumoured to have let more than 20 developers go by sources talking to Kotaku. The publisher later confirmed the exact figure in a statement to several outlets.

Square Enix excuses the action as part of the regular process of making and releasing games and states that staff cuts in this manner are required to make sure future projects go ahead.

'Unfortunately it's something that every major studio has to do sometimes in order to ensure you have the right set up for current and future projects,' said a Square Enix spokesperson. 'It's never a nice thing to do but we are genuinely trying to offer as much support as much as we can.'

Many of the staff as possible are apparently being relocated into other roles in other studios and Square Enix is also in talks with other Montreal-based studios to arrange a 'career day' for those affected.

Several studios have already been hit by staff cuts and closures this year. EA's Ghost Games, responsible for Need for Speed: Rivals, lost its UK office last month, Disney Interactive cut approximately 200 jobs despite the success of Disney Infinity and Bioshock creator Irrational Games recently closed its doors to all but a select few chosen by studio head Ken Levine.

Thief, released last week, was received with mixed reviews with several publications pointing out that it was an enjoyable title but most agreeing that it was somewhat disappointing.

Late last year, Eidos Montreal was also rumoured to have cancelled another as yet unannounced project that was unrelated to Thief or the studio's work on the Deus Ex series.

yep, part of the games biz. Specialists brought in to do a certain game. game completes and are let go to employ other specialist for other types of games that the previous employer has less experience in.

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